"Do you really think that's where Loki is going to be?" I asked dad.
We were currently in the engineering bay of the helicarrier, where we were both doing some last-minute fix ups of our suits. Being thrown around in the rotors had caused some minor damage to the relay sensors in my suit and dad had his own problems to fix in his.
"It has to be," he replied. "Loki has made this whole war personal. He knows all about us, he's done his research. He knows things about us that nobody else knows."
We had yet to talk again about the subject that had come up before the explosion. Yes, I was mad that dad had kept secrets about mum's death but after losing Coulson, it made it clear that any one of us could be gone in a second. I didn't want to be angry at him; he had thought that he was doing the best thing by me. We were about to fly into the unknown and it scared me to think about it but everyone may not make it back alive.
If I died, I would hate for dad to go on thinking for the rest of his life that I was still upset with him. And if, heaven forbid, he dies, I would forever be burdened with the knowledge that one of our last conversations was an argument. In case the worst happens, I needed to know that everything was alright between us.
"Dad, I don't know how Loki found out, but I'm glad he told me about mum. I needed to know. But I'm not angry at you for keeping it a secret. You did what you thought was best."
He stopped tinkering with the repulsor on his gauntlet to look me in the eyes. "I'm truly sorry Morgan. The…pain and anger that I felt when I found out…it was like losing her all over again. I didn't want you to have to feel that…so I hid it."
"I understand, and I'm not angry at you." I reached over the table to momentarily place my hand in his. "There's something I don't understand though; why would Obadiah kill mum? What did he gain from it?"
"After your mother had you, I decided that I was going to shut down Stark Industries."
My jaw practically fell to the floor when I heard those words. "What?! Why?"
Dad sighed. "I had enough money to last us a lifetime. I wanted to focus on my family, be there for the both of you. Obadiah knew if that happened he'd lose his job and a lot of money."
"So he somehow knew that killing mum would stop you from shutting down Stark Industries?"
"Yes. He knew me well enough to know that after losing your mum I would need something to focus on, something to keep me occupied. That was Stark Industries."
As much as I hated the thought, I had to ask it. "But why not just kill you before you could shut Stark Industries down? He was 2IC so with you gone he'd be in charge."
"Like he said when he was…" killing me, I finished his sentence in my mind. "He knew that I had more ideas, more designs that could get him more profits. He hadn't been ready to kill me then."
As I thought about all of the pain and suffering that Obadiah had caused our family over the last 18 years, all I could say was one thing. "He got what he deserved." Sometimes I wished he hadn't died in the attack, so I could see the bastard rotting in a prison cell for the rest of his life. But I slept better at night knowing he was no longer in this world. No longer able to cause anybody else harm. And I hoped he was rotting in hell.
We lapsed into silence as we continued working on our suits. Dad had more damage done to his so I was finished long before him. I collapsed my suit back down into a portable briefcase. It was similar in design to dad's suit, the one that came in so handy at the Monaco Grand Prix when Ivan had attacked us.
As I looked over and watched dad intensely fixing the wiring in his boots, I was struck by an overwhelming sense of both sorrow and love. No matter our differences or the arguments, he was my father and he loved me with all of his heart. He had raised me alone and did everything in his power to make sure I was happy. He'd never missed a single birthday or Christmas, a dance recital or sports carnival. He had always been by my side.
A smile spread over my face as I remembered one of my favourite memories of him. It was my 5th birthday and I had requested a princess fairy theme for my party. The house had been decorated in pink streamers, pink glitter; and even the water in my 'mini waterfall' had been dyed pink. For any man that would have been enough, but dad had gone a step further.
I had screamed with delight when I walked downstairs to see him standing there in a pink princess dress, complete with glitter fairy wings and 'diamond' tiara. It was a larger version of the costume I was wearing and I was so happy to be the same as my dad. I still have a photo framed of us standing side by side in our matching costumes.
I wish I could put into words just how much I loved him and appreciated everything he has ever done for me. When I tried to find the words, nothing seemed like enough. He had given me everything in life. 'Thank you' just didn't seem to convey just how much I appreciated and cherished him.
I just hoped he knew it in his heart.
"I'm going to go get ready and meet Natasha in the jet," I said.
"Wait, you're not going to fly in?" he asked. I was honestly surprised dad hadn't tried to convince me to stay in the hellicarier or just told me I wasn't allowed to go. Maybe he was finally learning to let go of his baby girl, or maybe he just realised that they needed all the help they could get, especially with Thor and Banner MIA.
"No, I don't think it's a good idea to split up so early. I'll have my suit on the jet ready to go, just in case."
"Ok." He put down his tools and walked over to where I stood. "I know you will be," he said as he placed his hands on my shoulder. "But please be careful. If anything happens to you…"
"I know," I said. "I will be." I stood up on my toes to reach his cheek, planting a kiss on it. "I love you dad. Thank you for everything."
I saw confusion flash in his eyes at my words and tone, but he still smiled. "I love you too."
With my briefcase in hand, I left the room but not before glancing over my shoulder to get one last glimpse of dad.
I know I was being stupid and irrational and foolish, but I needed to do this. I wasn't thinking about dad or Daniel, I was thinking about Coulson. Someone needed to avenge his death and I wanted it to be me. I wanted to see that stupid smug smile of his wiped off Loki's face as the light faded from his eyes. I didn't know what would kill him, or if it was even possible, but I would give it my best try. For Coulson.
As I walked into hanger B, I hurriedly looked around to check if Natasha or Steve had already arrived. Luckily there was no sign of them.
After the attack on the helicarrier the agents that survived and were not too badly injured were either on the bridge, helping to keep the aircraft in the sky, or were frantically repairing the damage done to the ship. There had been minimal damage to this hanger so thankfully there were only a few agents down here and none of them even battered an eye at my presence.
I found a secluded corner and quickly activated my suit. As soon as I felt the last piece slip into place I walked over to the edge of the hanger and launched myself out. I used the thick clouds below the ship as coverage, hoping that was enough to cover my trail as I shot off across the sky.
"Jarvis, head a course to Stark tower."
"Yes Miss Stark," replied the familiar British AI.
A green line suddenly appeared on my heads-up display, indicating my flight path to Manhattan. A very small part of me was screaming at me to turn around, to wait for the rest of the group. I ignored it and flew onwards.
I needed to do this. Dad wouldn't understand but he should. He did the exact same thing when he first made the suit, flying off to Gulmira to rescue the village and confront the men of the Ten Rings. It was reckless and impulsive but he had his own reasons for needing to do it.
So do I.
Coulson was my friend and I wouldn't be able to sleep until I knew the man who killed him was dead or locked away forever. He deserved justice.
I flew as fast as the suit would go, afraid that at any second dad would pop up next to me and try to stop me from going after Loki. He hadn't even called yet so I assumed he believed my lie of going with Natasha and everyone in the jet. And Natasha would just assume that I was heading out with dad so no one would be looking for me.
As I watched the miles to Manhattan tick down on the heads-up display, my heart began pumping madly. In just a few minutes I would be at Stark Tower. Loki had to be there. Whatever was going to happen, Loki would want to be in the thick of it, not watching his handiwork from the sideline. He had to be there, he had to.
The clouds in front of me thinned and the island of Manhattan came into view. I flew high above the skyscrapers, looking down at the tiny dots which were the people on the streets far below. The millions of people in the city were all in danger and none of them had a clue. They were down there, walking around like it was any other day. By the end of today they could all be dead if we didn't stop Loki. Not to mention the rest of the world was in danger. He needs to be stopped and that was exactly was I was about to do.
Stark Tower loomed ahead. I spotted someone standing on the roof next to a large structure that had multiple wires attached to it. Within the structure was the Tesseract. My display screen zoomed in and I was momentarily disappointed to see it was not Loki standing on the roof, but Dr. Selvig. That disappointment quickly disappeared and was replaced with concern as I took in my colleague and friends appearance. In just a few days he had lost a significant amount of weight and the dark circles underneath his eyes only added to his gaunt appearance.
As much as I wanted to go and help him, I was here for someone else. Dad and the others would be here soon and would be able to free him from Loki's control and retrieve the Tesseract.
Loki, dressed in his green armour minus the horn helmet, was standing in the centre of the Stark Tower penthouse, gazing out through the floor to ceiling windows at the Manhattan skyscrapers in front of him. Clutched in his hand was his sceptre.
I didn't think it was possible but as I saw him standing there in that room, the rage I felt towards him grew. How dare he be in that room. It felt so wrong to see him standing where dad once stood. He had purposely invaded our personal lives, as if to say 'look what I can do and you can't stop me'.
As I made my descent onto the balcony outside the penthouse, I watched as his eyes tracked my movements. I could see the ghost of a smile already on his lips. I walked across the landing and entered the room. I kept my suit on. I wasn't stupid enough to think that I could take Loki on without it, not while he had that sceptre and his powers.
As soon as I stepped into the room Loki let out a little chuckle. "They sent the little girl to stop me?"
"Nobody sent me."
"So you think you can stop me all by yourself?"
Loki was still standing in the centre of the room and I slowly began making my way to him. "I'm gunna try because after what you've done you deserve to die."
We were now standing 4 meters apart. I wanted to close the distance and start hammering his face with my fists but I controlled myself and kept my position.
"You're going to kill me?" He chuckled again, as if he knew how much that sound angered me. "Do you know what it's like to take a life? To wrap your hands around their throat and watch as the light leaves their eyes? Do you-"
I raised both of my hands and sent out a blast from the repulsors. They hit Loki square in the chest and he was flown across the room, slamming into the wall hard enough to leave a dent. The sceptre went flying out of his hands and skidded across the floor.
"Shut up," I said.
The full force of the blasts would have been enough to kill a human but after a moment Loki struggled to his feet. Instead of being angry, he had that deranged smiled back on his face. "You would be nothing without that armour."
I shrugged. "Probably." I sent out another blast, knocking him back to the ground. As I made my way over to him I stopped to pick up his fallen sceptre. He stood up and backed up against the wall as he saw me standing in front of him. I had the tip of the sceptre positioned over his heart, ready to plunge it into his chest just as he had done to Coulson.
"Do it," he said. His black greasy hair was dangling in front of his eyes. The manic smile never left his face. "I want to see if you have it in you," he taunted.
As I stared into his eyes, I could see it. He was really asking me to do it. It wasn't a taunt, it wasn't a show. He wanted me to kill him.
And I wanted to. But as I looked into his face, all I could think of was Daniel. How would I tell him that I had killed someone? Even if the someone was a murderer and deserved it, would Daniel ever look at me the same if he knew what I did? Would he still want to marry me, spent his life with me, raise a child with me? Even if I didn't tell him, I would still know. It would feel like I was keeping something from him.
'Once you kill someone, it changes you'. Dad's words echoed through my head. I don't know if I was ready to change. In my rage I had been so convinced that I could do it but now, standing here in front of him, I wasn't so sure. Was I ready to be a killer?
The seconds ticked by and eventually I lowered the sceptre from his chest.
"I knew it," he sneered. "You couldn't do it. You're just as pathetic as your friend, Coulson. He couldn't stop me and neither can you."
As soon as I heard his name from his lips, the rage returned. I felt my body moving but it was like I had no control over it. My hand tightened around the sceptre. I raised it, the swirling blue mass of energy in the sceptre reflected in Loki's eyes. Without hesitation, I plunged the sceptre into Loki's chest.